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Overall Rating : 5.5/10
Directed By : Darren Lynn Bousman
Shawnee Smith (SAW II)
Tobin Bell (SAW II)
Angus Macfadyen (Braveheart)
Bahar Soomekh (Crash)
Supplied By : Lionsgate Films
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : Jan. 23, 2007
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| PLOT Jigsaw has disappeared. With his new apprentice Amanda, the puppet-master behind the cruel, intricate games that have terrified a community and baffled police has once again eluded capture and vanished. While city detectives scramble to locate him, Doctor Lynn Denlon and Jeff are unaware that they are about to become the latest pawns on his vicious chessboard. |
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| THE REVIEW In the latest installment of the SAW series we find that John "Jigsaw" Kramer, whom now with accomplice/survivor Amanda are still up to their old tricks. Jigsaw, still ailing from a cancerous tumor on his brain, still finds joy in testing a person's will to live via his torturous games that utilize various contraptions that he conceived, but perhaps the one will to survive, that's most important this time around is his own. Hoping to live on(for a little bit longer at least), he instructs Amanda to abduct Lynn a physician in order to save his life - but that doesn't mean Lynn would not have to endure her own test. They outfit her with a collar that specifically if hooked to John's heart monitor, and if he should flat line, Lynn's collar would detonate killing them all. Meanwhile we meet a man named Jeff who struggles everyday with the loss of his young son due to a hit and run accident, he is also trapped in a maze of games, and along the way he meets the people responsible and has to choose between saving his life or losing his own. The conclusion of the game is if Jeff is able to complete all tasks ge would later find Lynn and they would be both set free.... Well, with SAW III the series comes full circle and returns to it's roots, as it has both of the original creators/writers penning this entry into the popular series - unfortunately for this reason....that is why it fails. Gone are the multiple plot-points that made the second film so interesting and opportunistic, and in their places we are brought back to a film that basically involves only one plot throughout, much like the original. At the beginning of the film, we see once again, Detective Eric Matthews, being beaten to what we believe his death and the later his female partner Kerry gets trapped in a game with Jigsaw, a game that she looses. Before we know it, these two characters are soon pushed over to the wayside and we are pulled into our new plot. Lynn Denlon, our doctor has been having marital problems with her husband and has been cheating on him, even though she knows it's wrong. These problems seem to have a negative effect on the often reliable Doctor as she begins to lose her focus at work - Jigsaw captures her as he says she doesn't appreciate family, or something to that effect. Besides the story involving Lynn, however it is the story of Jeff that really becomes the film's major objective. Jeff lost his son after he was hit by an on-coming car and everyday he has the urges to kill those that had anything to do with his death, but little does he know, it is through Jigsaw's games that he may have the chance to do just that - will he forgive, or take action of the everyday desires he has? In this installment, we also get a sense of the relationship shared between John and Amanda, and to me it seems a little obsessive on Amanda's part as she sees him as I guess, a lover or a father figure....could be either. We also see that even though Amanda does trap the victims sometimes she is reluctant to do so, but once in that frame of mind, she is even more sadistic than her mentor. Throughout the film, we watch on as John clings to his every breath as Lynn tries to save him in order to save herself... and in the meantime we witness Amanda as she virtually cracks, at the thought of losing John.....almost reverting back to her self abusive ways. It is with these actions by her, that we believe that Amanda will carry on his legacy for years to come, as the notion is presented so strongly here, but that is soon not the case. Without spoiling it we are thrown a curveball that is intended to shock us much like the previous two films had done, but as for this time, it's my opinion that this twist completely ruins the entire series as we know it. The ending of SAW III tells us that a fourth film is needed to complete this story.... but I am not fully convinced that a fourth SAW would actually work, as I don't find the characters that were introduced here that interesting.maybe this is a sign that a series of films has ran it's course... Yes the same gruesome traps are here and they are the best yet, however I never said this was the worst part of the film. Every SAW picture has been produced about a year apart from one another coming out consecutively each year, but I think that SAW III is such a case that it may have needed more time to fully develop in plot - as there are various holes and confusions to be found within...it simply goes downhill. |
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| GORE
METER 7.5/10 Like I said the traps are fantastic and so is the gore factor...there is so much happening in this department that I couldn't possibly list it all... |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 7/10 I really loved the score here, some rock tones, the rest is much like the score from SAW II but with some bass-lines added in, it really suits the film perfectly. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM Like all SAW films, for SAW III the atmosphere and gore are all here, but being honest with you, I thought the plot failed miserably to say the least, and wasn't as exciting as the last. After waiting a year or so after SAW II in eager anticipation for this, all I can say is that I am very disappointed and from this point I don't see the series getting any better from this point on...SAW III is a step back rather than one forward... The DVD will be available January 23, 2007 |
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